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<DIV><FONT size=2>Let's just stop making so-called nonprofits tax
exempt.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>W.</FONT></DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=sslund_2007@verizon.net href="mailto:sslund_2007@verizon.net">Saundra
Lund</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, September 29, 2008 11:00
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] 33 Pastors Flout
Tax Law With Political Sermons</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>33 Pastors Flout Tax Law With Political Sermons<BR>By Peter
Slevin<BR>Washington Post Staff Writer <BR>Monday, September 29, 2008; Page
A02 <BR><BR>CROWN POINT, Ind., Sept. 28 -- Defying a federal law that
prohibits U.S.<BR>clergy from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit,
an evangelical<BR>Christian minister told his congregation Sunday that voting
for Sen. Barack<BR>Obama would be evidence of "severe moral
schizophrenia."<BR><BR>The Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. told worshipers that the
Democratic presidential<BR>nominee's positions on abortion and gay
partnerships exist "in direct<BR>opposition to God's truth as He has revealed
it in the Scriptures." Johnson<BR>showed slides contrasting the candidates'
views but stopped short of<BR>endorsing Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John
McCain. <BR><BR>Johnson and 32 other pastors across the country set out Sunday
to break the<BR>rules, hoping to generate a legal battle that will prompt
federal courts to<BR>throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by
tax-exempt houses<BR>of worship. <BR><BR>The ministers contend they have a
constitutional right to advise their<BR>worshipers how to vote. As Johnson put
it during a break between sermons,<BR>"The point that the IRS says you can't
do it, I'm saying you're wrong." <BR><BR>The campaign, organized by the
Alliance Defense Fund, a socially<BR>conservative legal consortium based in
Arizona, has gotten the attention of<BR>the Internal Revenue Service. The
agency, alerted by opponents, pledged to<BR>"monitor the situation and take
action as appropriate." <BR><BR>Each campaign season brings allegations that a
member of the clergy has<BR>crossed a line set out in a 1954 amendment to the
tax code that says<BR>nonprofit, tax-exempt entities may not "participate in,
or intervene in . .<BR>. any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for
public office." <BR><BR>This time, the church action is concerted. Yet while
the ministers say the<BR>rules stifle religious expression, their opponents
contend that the tax laws<BR>are essential to protect the separation of church
and state. They say<BR>political speech should not be supported by a tax break
for the churches or<BR>the worshipers who are contributing to a political
cause.<BR><BR><snip><BR><A
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802</A><BR>365.html<BR>OR<BR><A
href="http://tinyurl.com/4v2k79">http://tinyurl.com/4v2k79</A><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>Saundra<BR>Moscow,
ID<BR><BR>The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people
to do<BR>nothing.<BR>~ Edmund
Burke<BR><BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR> List
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